Friday, November 16, 2007

He's Not Just Yorvit, He's Our-Vit

The Mets signed former Colorado Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba (yor-VEET tor-EE-all-buh) to a 3-year contract worth $14.4m. There are a few great things about this signing. First, that means no more Paul LoDuca. Second, it saves the Mets a little over what they paid LoDuca last year. Third, it will be a lot of fun to say Yorvit Torrealba over the next three years.
But the downside is the Mets refuse to give Ramon Castro a chance to win the starting job. However, they did keep Castro with a 2-year, $4.6 million deal.
2007 was the first season in which Torrealba played in more than 66 games.
Here are 2007 stats for the three catchers:
Torrealba: 396 AB 8 HR 47 RBI .255 BA .323 OBP .376 SLG .699 OPS
Lo Duca: 445 AB 9 HR 54 RBI .272 BA .311 OBP .378 SLG .689 OPS
Castro: 144 AB 11 HR 31 RBI .285 BA .331 OBP .556 SLG .887 OPS

From those stats you can see that LoDuca and Torrealba are comparable and both are far inferior to Castro, for 2007.

It's clear the Mets think two things about Castro. They think he isn't a good defensive catcher, and they think he can't continue his offensive performance for an entire season.

I'll concede point one only because it's subjective and impossible to prove (you have caught stealing percentages, but you can't judge how someone handles a staff) but I disagree with number 2. The best way to figure out how someone will hit in the future is to look at how he's hit in the past. That is why I think the Mets should have given Castro the starting job. But I will embrace Yorvit and hope he provides steady hitting and good defense behind the plate for the Mets.

Yorvit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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1 comment:

  1. Anonymous12:02 PM

    He hit 255 playing for the Rockies. 290 at home and something awful on the road. I'm not really excited about this.

    Loduca hustled and had the respect of his teammates. He had a decent stick when he wasn't hurting, always putting the ball in play and never striking out. He was also a personality.

    This seems like a downgrade to me in offensive production. Even last year, which was an off year for Paul, he came out ahead of Yorvit. I never noticed Loduca to be a poor defender and he seemed to work well with the pitching staff. I would have brought him back for a 1 or 2 year contract. I think he wanted to stay and I don't think there was a huge market for him, which probably would have brought him back at a discount.

    I think the Mets were pissed with the way he handled the media and also for some of the indiscretions in his personal life.

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